The mission of the Iowa Science
Teachers Section of the Iowa
Academy of Science is to advocate
for excellence in science education
by promoting professionalism,
influencing policy, and enhancing learning.

The mission of the Iowa Academy of Science is to further scientific research and its dissemination, education in the sciences, public understanding of science, and recognition of excellence in these endeavors.

• Amateur Astronomy Clubs and Organizations - Provided by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, the Amateur Astronomy Clubs and Organizations page contains a database of clubs throughout the world.
• Amazing Space Web-Based Activities
• American Astronomical Society - The major organization of professional astronomers in North America, the American Astronomical Society's (AAS) main goal "is to promote the advancement of astronomy and closely related branches of science." The website presents the Society's three scholarly journals and its numerous publications.
• The Analemma - a detailed site on that most interesting (and difficult to teach) topic
• Astronomical Almanac Online - The Astronomical Almanac Online is a collaboration between the Nautical Almanac Office in the United States and Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office (HMNAO) in the United Kingdom. The print version of the Almanac serves as a worldwide standard for annual data on the Sun, Moon, planets, satellites, eclipses and other phenomena.
• Astronomical Data Center - Part of the Astrophysics Data Facility of the Space Science Data Operations Office at NASA, the Astronomical Data Center provides astronomical catalogs and journal tables to the scientific community. The site includes nine data categories: Astrometric and Positional, Photometric, Spectroscopic, Cross Identifications, Combined and Derived, Miscellaneous, Nonstellar and Extended Objects, Radio Sources, and High-Energy Data. Users can search by keyword, author name, and year of publication; or browse by catalog category, journal title, and author name.
• AstronomyDaily.Com - Astronomy Daily.Com offers real time astronomical data tailored to the viewer's location and time zone. The personalized front page presents a chart of tonight's sky. Diagrams allow users to view the planets in their orbits. Educators and students can find images of today's moon and its phase on the calendar, plus data dealing with its current position and its physical and orbital characteristics.
• Astronomy Education Review - Created by the National optical Astronomy Observatory, the Astronomy Education Review website's goal is to make "it easy to find, read about, and use new ideas and resources for teaching and outreach in astronomy and space sciences."
• The Astronomy Thesaurus - Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the extensive amount of jargon used in astronomy? This web site may offer visitors with an easy way to compare astronomy material from different authors. The Astronomy Thesaurus, created by Robyn M. Shobbrook of the Anglo-Australian Observatory and Robert R. Shobbrook of Sydney University, provides a way to standardize the terminology in the field of astronomy.
• Automated Plate Scanner Catalog of the Polomar Observatory Sky Survey - on-line astronomical resource of millions of cataloged stars and galaxies (and their images), derived from Automated Plate Scanner (APS) scans of the National Geographic-Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS I) blue (O) and red (E) plates
• Bad Astronomy - Philip Plait, a professor at the physics and astronomy department at Sonoma State University, explores many popular myths and misconceptions about astronomy at this amusing and educational website.
• The Barringer Meteorite Crater - The Barringer Meteorite Crater is a mile wide and 570 foot deep hole in the Arizona desert that was made by a meteorite approximately 50,000 years ago.
• Basics of Space Flight - provided by NASA
• Challenger Center - "Challenger Center uses students' natural enthusiasm for space to create innovative learning experiences for imaginative young minds." After learning about the Challenger 51-L crew, users can find information about visits to the Challenger Learning Center Networks' forty six sites located across the Unites States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
• Cosmic Distance Scale - This NASA site was developed by Maggie Masetti to demonstrate astronomical distances and help users grasp the size our universe. Starting at Earth, users simply select the Zoom Out link to see continuously larger areas of our universe until they reach The Farthest Visible Reaches of Space.
• Cosmic and Heliospheric Learning Center - The Cosmic and Heliospheric Learning Center was developed by NASA to increase the general public's interest in cosmic and heliospheric science.
• Daylight Savings Time - The California Energy Commission summaries the history of daylight savings and why we use it at this website. Users can discover where and how other areas of the world change the time to deal with the varying sunlight throughout the year. The website summarizes Benjamin Franklin's and William Willett's ideas for saving energy. Individuals can discover how daylight savings can save energy, save lives, prevent traffic accidents, and prevent crime.
• Deep Sky Database - This site is a tool for amateur astronomers who love to pursue deep sky objects. It employs a web-based version of the Saguaro Astronomy Club's database consisting of over 10,000 records. This online version of the SAC database allows amateur astronomers to compile detailed and customized observing lists.
• Earth Impact - dedicated to the subject of meteorites and comets - more especially, their occasional close encounters with the Earth.
• Earth Impact Database - The Earth Impact Database is provided by researchers at the Geological Survey of Canada. The Web site offers a crater inventory that contains the craters name, location, latitude and longitude, diameter, age, and whether it is buried or drilled.
• The Earthshine Project - "The Earth's climate depends on the net sunlight deposited on the globe, which is critically sensitive to the Earth's albedo. A global and absolutely calibrated albedo can be determined by measuring the amount of sunlight reflected from the Earth and, in turn, back to the Earth from the dark portion of the face of the Moon (the 'earthshine' or 'ashen light')."
• Espanek's Eclipse Home Page
• The "Face on Mars"
• Famous Astronomers and Astrophysicists - Provides short introductions for almost one hundred famous astronomers and astrophysicists from the Classical Period to the present.
• High Redshift Supernova Search Home Page of the Supernova Cosmology Project - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories's Supernova Cosmology Project provides this site featuring text and graphics describing their latest research. Spectral and redshift data compiled using information from the Hubble telescope can be viewed in graphical format.
• History of Space Exploration
• HubbleSite - The interactive and graphically stunning HubbleSite is produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute's Office of Public Outreach and covers all aspects of the Hubbel Telescope for the general public. The Striking Encounters multimedia activity shows how galaxies collide and how scientists study them using the telescope.
• Imagine Mars - Produced by NASA, "the Imagine Mars Project is a national arts, sciences and technology education initiative that has harnessed America's fascination with space and led young people to work together with educators and civic leaders to design a Mars community for 100 people."
• Infrared Space Observatory - The European Space Agency has constructed an expansive Web site committed to its Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) -- a mission launched in November 1995.
• The International Meteor Organization - The home page of the International Meteor Organization (IMO) has many resources for both casual sky watchers to more serious observers. There are sections devoted to different methods for observing meteors, global analyses and data of meteor showers, fireball observations, and the radio meteor scatter observation technique. Various software titles for analyzing and recording meteor data can be downloaded from the IMO Web site.
• International Space Station - This site from NASA provides updated information on the International Space Station, including recent news, planned missions, and a virtual tour of the (yet-to-be-completed) station.
• Introduction to Cosmology - Cosmology is the study of the origin and evolution of the Universe. This web site introduces basic concepts in modern cosmology and describes the Microwave Anisotropy Probe mission at a general level.
• Institute of Meteoritics - The University of Mexico's Institute of Meteoritics (IOM) claims to be the first institution in the world dedicated to the study of meteorites.
• Key Documents in the History of Space Policy - All of the projects that NASA takes on are controlled by politics. This website allows users to explore the key discussions in the political agenda by supplying significant documents that have affected the history of the United States space program. Documents range from the 1958 Space Act, which established NASA, to the 2004 Assessment of the NASA Agency-wide Applicability of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board Report. Through the reports, users can observe how the space program evolved from the Cold War though the post-Cold War period.
• KidsAstronomy.com - KidsAstronomy.com was created by astronomy buff and elementary school teacher Hiram Bertoch. Her goal of creating a kid friendly Web site that is balanced between text and tech was definitely achieved. Interactive, visually pleasant, and content rich, the site provides kids a great learning resource that is fun to explore.
• Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics - A participant in the U.S. space program since the 1950s, the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado conducts research in atmospheric and planetary sciences, develops space instrumentation, and creates computer information systems.
• Life Beyond Earth - based on Timothy Ferris' PBS film
• Lunar and Planetary Institute - The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI), located in the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), concentrates on research dealing with the current state, evolution, and formation of the solar system.
• Mars Missions
• The Meteoritical Society - The Meteoritical Society, which provides this interesting Website, is an international scholarly society formed to promote the study of meteors and meteorites, interplanetary dust, lunar samples, and other extraterrestrial materials.
• NASA Earth Observatory Mission: Biomes - This fun, interactive website was designed by NASA's earth observatory to introduce students to the Earth's Biomes.
• The NASA Homepage
• NASA Human Space Flight Realtime Data - Wondering Where the Space Shuttle is right now? Visit this site to find out. This Java applet allows you to enter your location, or simply watch the space shuttle's position in orbit.
• NASA Kids - Fun interactive games, educational cartoons, puzzles, and more make learning astronomy fun.
• The Nine Planets - an excellent reference site on the entire solar system - very extensive
• NOAA's Satellites - The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) maintains this centralized resource on NOAA satellites, of interest to life and physical scientists alike.
• Obliquity's Interactive Astronomy Pages - This website, created by scientist David Harper and webmaster and mathematician Lynne Stockman, offers interactive modules about the sun, moon, and Earth.
• Ology - This Web site from the American Museum of Natural History is a site for kids that focuses on three different Ologies -- genetics, astronomy, and paleontology. The site is full of interesting science facts, games, and activities. It offers a lot for kids to learn, and the format is appealing and interactive. Adult and kid scientists share their interests in these topics in the Meet the Ologists section, and users that are really interested can register and create their own Ology page.
• Our Solar System - Geared towards grade-schoolers, the site provides a well done and understandable introduction to this potentially overwhelming subject.
• Paper Plate Education - The Paper Plate Education website, created by Chuck Bueter at DePaul University, offers hands-on activities covering a range of science topics and education levels. With an abundance of paper plates and a few other common items, students can learn about the seasonal and latitudinal changes of the altitude of the noon sun, correct depictions of the phases of the moon, the interior of planets, and much more.
• Planetary Photojournal: NASA's Image Access Home Page - easy access to the publicly released images from various Solar System exploration programs
• Project Galileo (JPL)
• Project STARDUST - the first comet sample return mission.
• Rocket and Space Technology - Orbital mechanics, propulsion, rocket hardware, space centers and missions are among the topics featured on Robert A. Braeunig's Rocket and space Technology page. Braeunig is a civil engineer whose hobby is learning about space flight. This page is well-researched, and all sources are credited. The text disseminates relatively simple explanations of the mechanics of rocket flight and includes definitions of important terms and black-and-white diagrams.
• Science in Space - Offered by the Liberty Science Center, the Science in Space Web site provides a visually pleasing way to explore topics about the sun. Links include Sunspots, Solar Wind, Solar Flares, Fusion, Plasma, Magnetic Fields, Earth's Atmosphere, and the Sun's Layers, all of which include subtopic links.
• SEDS Messier Database - an image archive of Messier objects
• SIMBAD Astronomical Database - The SIMBAD astronomical database provides basic data, cross-identifications, and bibliography for astronomical objects outside the solar system.
• Sky & Telescope Magazine
• Skymaps.com - At Skymaps.com you can download high quality digital sky maps. Choose from existing designs or request custom-made maps to meet your specific requirements.
• SkyView Virtual Observatory - SkyView is a Virtual Observatory on the Net generating images of any part of the sky at wavelengths in all regimes from Radio to Gamma-Ray.
• Sloan Digital Sky Survey - The Sloan Digital Sky Survey "will map in detail one-quarter of the entire sky, determining the positions and absolute brightnesses of more than 100 million celestial objects" as well as "measure the distances to more than a million galaxies and quasars."
• The Society for Planetary SETI Research - "The Society for Planetary SETI Research (SPSR) is an organization of scientists and scholars from a variety of disciplines formed around their common interest in anomalies on planets and their satellites whose origins may be the result of intelligent activity."
• SOHO: Exploring the Sun - Learn about the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) that was designed to study the internal structure of the sun. You can view spectacular images of the sun, watch movies of solar events, and see on-line exhibits.
• Solar Database - The Solar Database, or SoDa, is described as an integration and exploitation of networked Solar radiation Databases for environment monitoring and as a project that aims to integrate European-wide solar radiation resources (i.e. databases, processing chains and educational resources) into one, thematically organized, Web site.
• NASA: Solar System Exploration - This NASA website offers a wide variety of space science-related activities, multimedia, and facts for people of all ages. The website presents the latest news and upcoming space science events. Students and educators can explore NASA's space missions by target, letter, year, and program.
• Solar System Simulator - Selecte a date and time to create a color image of any planet or satellite as viewed from any other planet or satellite
• Solar Terrestrial Activity Report - This chock-full of data page is hosted by the DX-listeners club (folks who search for distant radio signals). At the top is a graph of solar flux, sunspot number, and planetary A index, measured every five days, from October 30, 2000 to the present. Next come links to more data and graphs on solar energy, cycles, etc. Recent Solar and Geomagnetic Data, Solar Wind, and Electron Fluence Charts are updated daily.
• Space Telescope Science Institute - Their official home page.
• SpaceLink - NASA Spacelink is one of NASA's electronic resources specifically developed for use by the educational community. Spacelink is a comprehensive electronic library that contains current information related to NASA's aeronautics and space research.
• SpaceTV! - "SpaceTV! is the Internet's only regularly produced TV series about space, international cooperation and high technology."
• The Spacewatch Project - The primary goal of Spacewatch is to explore the various populations of small objects in the solar system, and study the statistics of asteroids and comets in order to investigate the dynamical evolution of the solar system.
• Spaceweather.com - Sponsored by Science@NASA and created by Dr. Tony Phillips, Spaceweather.com offers fascinating "news and information about the Sun-Earth environment." Visitors can find out the current space weather conditions such as the solar wind, interplanetary magnetic field, and x-ray solar flares.
• Stephen Hawkings Universe: Strange Stuff Explained
• SunAngle and SunPosition - These Web tools calculate sun angle and position. SunAngle calculates solar data for a single day and time, using latitude, longitude, elevation, and date/ time inputs. SunPosition calculates values for different days and times throughout the year, providing date, time, altitude, and azimuth outputs.
• The STScI Digitized Sky Survey - Space Telescope Science Institute Sky Survey
• SuperCosmos Sky Surveys - Part of the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh, the Wide-Field Astronomy Unit maintains the SuperCosmos Sky Surveys Web site. The SuperCosmos is an advanced photographic plate-digitizing machine that produces data derived from the scans of photographic Schmidt survey plates. Visitors can "extract images (pixel data) up to 15 arcmin across and/or object catalogues covering up to 100 sq. degrees.
• SuperWASP: Wide Angle Search for Planets - "SuperWASP is the UK's leading extra-solar planet detection program comprising of a consortium of seven academic institutions."
• Views of the Solar System - presents a vivid multimedia adventure unfolding the splendor of the Sun, planets, moons, comets, asteroids, and more.
• Virtual Reality Moon Phases Pictures
• Virtual Trips to Black Holes and Neutron Stars - scientifically accurate computer animations of what it would look like to travel to a black hole or a neutron star
• The Visible Earth - a searchable directory of images, visualizations, and animations of the Earth
• Watts on Schools: Solar Energy Activities - This website, created by Watts on Schools, provides pdf files of an assortment of fun, collaborative solar energy activities.
• The Web Nebulae - beautiful photographs of various nebulae.
• Windows to the Universe
• Your Sky - At this site can produce maps in the forms described below for any time and date, viewpoint, and observing location. If you enter the orbital elements of an asteroid or comet, Your Sky will compute its current position and plot it on the map. Each map is accompanied by an ephemeris for the Sun, Moon, planets, and any tracked asteroid or comet.